Agencies that place international candidates, free career support for newcomers and accompanying partners, and the employers that dominate the Gothenburg job market.
Gothenburg's job market is built around a few very large employers: Volvo Cars (16,475 employees in the region in 2025), the Volvo Group (about 12,700), Sahlgrenska University Hospital (17,000+ staff), the University of Gothenburg (6,692), Chalmers (3,375), Saab (2,925) and AstraZeneca in Mölndal (about 2,700-3,000). For free help with CVs, LinkedIn and networking, use International House Gothenburg; partners who moved in the last 24 months can join its three-month International Partner Programme.
Agencies and headhunters that place international candidates.
Staffing and recruitment company with a Gothenburg office in Citygate by Ullevi, offering staffing for long and short assignments and recruitment, with an English branch page.
Fabrikstorget 1, 412 50 Göteborg (Citygate, floor 7)
manpower.se ↗Staffing and recruitment agency with an office at Kungstorget 2 in central Gothenburg, covering temporary staffing, permanent recruitment and specialist roles. The site has an English version.
Kungstorget 2, 411 17 Göteborg
randstad.se ↗International recruitment agency with a Sweden page covering permanent, fixed-term and contract hiring in IT, finance, tech, telecoms, e-commerce, engineering and life sciences. Recruits nationwide.
No Gothenburg office published; the site states it recruits nationwide, including Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala.
allenrec.com ↗Recruitment firm in the Nexer Group, based at Lindholmen in Gothenburg, filling specialist and leadership roles in tech, engineering, manufacturing, life science and R&D.
Lindholmspiren 9, 417 56 Göteborg
nexerrecruit.com ↗Executive search and management recruitment firm with offices in Gothenburg, Jönköping, Stockholm and Värnamo, working on headhunting for leading positions across Sweden.
Kungsportsavenyn 25, 1 tr, 411 36 Göteborg
finnvedenexecutive.se ↗Executive search and leadership consulting firm; its Swedish business runs from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, with Gothenburg partners covering life science, financial services and industrial roles.
Korsgatan 3, Göteborg
signium.com ↗Public programmes for newcomers and accompanying partners.
Free welcome service for international professionals and their families in Gothenburg: one-to-one career consultations, digital advice, workshops and events, and an International Partner Programme.
Järnvågsgatan 3, 413 27 Göteborg
investingothenburg.com ↗Regional initiative for internationals: join the talent pool to get weekly updates with open jobs in Gothenburg, Borås, Trollhättan and Skövde.
Initiative for Gothenburg and West Sweden run with business, academia, city and region; organisational home at the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce; works with International House Gothenburg.
movetogothenburg.com ↗Business Region Göteborg's 2025 figures: Volvo Cars 16,475 employees, Volvo Group about 12,700 (including Volvo Technology and Volvo Trucks), University of Gothenburg 6,692, Chalmers 3,375, Saab 2,925, AstraZeneca 2,725 and SKF 1,950. Sahlgrenska University Hospital has more than 17,000 staff, and the City of Gothenburg nearly 60,000.
In many engineering, IT, life-science and research teams the working language is English. Most public-sector, healthcare and customer-facing roles require Swedish, and Swedish helps everywhere for promotion and networking.
EU/EEA and Nordic citizens don't. Everyone else needs a work permit before starting, with a salary of at least SEK 34,470 a month since June 2026 (lower for some exempt occupations). Migrationsverket decides 75% of complete applications for highly qualified workers within about a month and other employment within about four months. See current waits.
In 2026 the salary route requires more than SEK 88,800 a month (1.5 times the price base amount). The employer must apply within three months of your start date. Use the expert tax relief calculator, and the tax calculator to compare offers.
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